No More Excuses For Bad Teachers
The crazy thing about the education debate in the United States is that anyone with an ounce of brains knows what must be done. Each political party is about half right. Republicans are right about the need for strict performance standards and wrong in believing that enduring change is possible without lots more money from Washington. Democrats are right about the need to pay teachers more but wrong to kiss up to teachers unions bent on preventing accountability.As President Bush's flawed (but landmark) No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program comes up for reauthorization this year, the onus is on Democrats. Will they cave to their party's biggest special interest—or do what most of them acknowledge in private is essential? Among Democratic presidential candidates, supporting accountability with teeth and more charter schools should be a litmus test for anyone serious about proving he or she is not just another hack.
Spitzer seems game to fight his own party's instinct to pander. "The national Democratic Party has got to understand that real education reform is a central issue both politically and for our economic future," he told me last week. "We have to get our arms around the idea that if there's no performance, you must remove those responsible for the failure." It's a sad commentary on Democrats that they've allowed "educational accountability" to become a winning issue for the GOP.
Feb. 12, 2007 issue - The crazy thing about the education debate in the United States is that anyone with an ounce of brains knows what must be done. Each political party is about half right. Republicans are right about the need for strict performance standards and wrong in believing that enduring change is possible without lots more money from Washington. Democrats are right about the need to pay teachers more but wrong to kiss up to teachers unions bent on preventing accountability.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 6:32 PM
<< Home